Online Hispanic Trends

23 million Hispanics are now online according to eMarketer, representing 52% of the overall U.S. Hispanic Population

Just two years ago, eMarketer predicted that the number of Hispanics online wouldn't exceed 20 million until 2010, but they have recently released new figures showing that 23 million Hispanics are now online, representing 52% of the overall U.S. Hispanic population. They also revised their forecast for 2012, estimating that 29 million, or nearly 60 percent of the Hispanic population, will be online by 2012.

The surge is primarily being driven by young and native born Hispanics who are bilingual.

eMarketer points out that as this audience grows, it becomes more fragmented. “To reach Hispanic consumers online, marketers must take a more nuanced approach, going beyond language preference to target niches within this demographic,” says the report. For example, Mexican Americans may respond to different messaging than Columbian Americans, as may Hispanics living in highly diverse U.S. Markets versus those living in areas that are less so. “Online campaigns that target local markets with local references will resonate more than a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Source: eMarketer and Media Week

Staggering growth for Facebook in Latin America

Data collected by Facebook shows a substantial increase in Latin American users. Over the past six months, they have added 2.3 million new users in Chile, 2 million in Colombia, 1 million in Venezuela, and 0.4 million in Argentina.....

Source: Insidefacebook.com

Top properties for the U.S Hispanic Audience - Google is in the Lead....

Data published by comScore Media Metrix indicates that Google is ahead in the race for the U.S. Hispanic Market with 14.84 million monthly unique visits in June of 2008, a 19% increase from last year at this same time.

comScore's data also shows that U.S., Hispanic Internet usage at 21% is growing quickly, substantially outpacing overall Internet usage at 6% during the same period (June 07 to June 08). 

Notably, Univision.com, the only purely Hispanic-focused site, lost its position in the top 25 between April and June of this year.

The chart below shows those sites who have improved their position in green and those that have descended in the list in red.

Spanish-language ads - TV vs. Internet

Although the amount of money being spent on Spanish language television ads still dwarfs the amount being invested in online advertising to U.S. Hispanics, a recent article by eMarketer shows that this trend should change.

According to Vertis Communications, U.S. Hispanics' decisions were more likely to be influenced by the Internet than the general market audience, 13% as compared to 9%.

The article also cites Terra and Comscore's combined study in February 2008 that shows that U.S. Hispanics are spending at least as much time on the Internet as they do watching tv.

These figures indicate that more marketing dollars should be invested in online advertising to this growing and influential market segment.

Read full article: eMarketer

Online buyers doubling every two years in Brazil

An article by eMarketer describes the impressive growth of the ecommerce market in Brazil.

From 2003 to 2007, the number of individuals buying online in Brazil increased from 2.6 million buyers to 9.5 million, with the market expanding by 43% in 2007 alone. 

Third only to Japan (82%) and the UK (79%), Brazilians (79%) are heavily using the Internet for ecommerce in addition to many other online activities. 

They are heavy consumers of media, including books, magazines and newspapers, which were ranked with a 17% market share in research conducted by e-Bit.

Read full article

Catholic Relief Services takes an innovative and culturally-relevant approach to reaching the U.S. Hispanic audience

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an international development organization based in Baltimore has launched an innovative Spanish-language site to promote their work with the U.S. Hispanic audience.

The site was developed to meet the needs of the Spanish-preferring segment of the U.S. online Hispanic market and recognizes that direct translation is not the best approach. As Lydia Dibos, senior advisor for Hispanic Outreach at CRS said, “Doing word-for-word translation isn't what you want to do for US Hispanics."

In addition to developing a culturally-relevant website with original content in Spanish, CRS has developed a strategy that includes the use of new media, including PSAs on YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and Change.org and video to make the site an interactive experience.

CRS is working with Balsera Communications for media outreach, Directo Hispano for advertising, and Captura Group provided guidance for the new Web site.

Source: PRWeek

Visa, Inc. Study says eCommerce in Latin America to exceed $16 billion in 2008

In a new study entitled “B2C Electronic Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean: Beating All Odds,” Visa, Inc says that retail commerce in Latin America will surpass $16 billion this year and reach close to $30 billion by 2010.

Using data from AmericaEconomia, the study indicates that Brazil had the largest retail e-commerce market at $4.9 billion in 2007, with Mexico (1.38 billion) and Venezuela ($821 million) coming in second and third respectively.

Retail E-Commerce Sales Figures for Latin American Markets

Country	2007 Sales	% Change from 2006
Brazil	4.9 billion	38%
Mexico	1.3 billion	59%
Venezuela	821 billion	68%
Caribbean (except Puerto Rico)	818 million	45%
Argentina	739 million	19%
Chile	687 million	46%
Central America	499 million	39%
Puerto Rico	445 million	16%
Peru	218 million	50%
Colombia	201 million	15%
Others	203 million	23%

What are they shopping for?

In response to questions regarding what they shopped for online, customers responses were broken down into the following categories:

• Books, music, movies - 21.4%
• Tourism and travel - 16.9%
• Electronics - 13.9%
• Software - 12.3%
• Appliances - 9.1%
• Services - 7.7%
• Flowers and other gifts - 6.7%
• Food - 4.3%
• Games - 3.1%
• Spare parts - 2.8%
• Furniture - 1.8%

Source: InternetRetailer

Telemundo and GMC's multiplatform soccer reality series

Telemundo and GMC have teamed up to create a multiplatform, interactive media campaign to sell GMC's Sierra truck to the Hispanic Market.  To do so, they have developed a Spanish-language reality series called "The Long Shot" that features soccer players who failed to make the first cut, but will get a second chance to impress the coach and viewers and win a spot on the team during the "Gol de Media Cancha" next month. The interactive campaign will involve grassroots, web, mobile and TV. 

"On TV, "Long Shot" will be integrated into two Telemundo sports shows with weekly updates and interviews with the coach and contestants. One-minute units consisting of 30 seconds of web content and a 30-second GMC spot also will air on TV, along with 30-second teasers for the show. A custom site on Yahoo Telemundo will be GMC-branded, and the show will be promoted on mobile phones."

GMC isn't the only car marketerer developing online marketing for Hispanics. Ford is currently sponsoring a lifestyle site called "El Crossover," a website that focuses on Latinos who are influential in American culture, to market its Flex crossover vehicle.

Source: Adage

JetBlue launches a Spanish-language site

As it expands its services in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean, discount carrier JetBlue recently launched a Spanish-language website.  Their approach was to do a direct translation of their English content with some Hispanic-specific advertising and marketing messages. With the first phase launched, approximately 90 percent of the site is now Spanish-enabled with plans to launch the remaining sections in subsequent phases.

Source: Cheapflights.com